B29 Build Progress

Time for another stupid question.  This one is directed at those who have built this Revell B-29 model in the past in particular.  I note on the wing assembly a funny-shaped protrusion that sticks out:

Top View:

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

Bottom View:

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

Does anyone know what the heck these are for?  The appear to bear no weight once the engine cowlings are installed, and don't even seem to touch anything else when assembled.  I was wondering if they might be bits of sprue that should be cut off, but was afraid to just start whacking away without asking someone who had built this kit before.

Any ideas?

Cheers, Bob

Latest update on the B-29.  I painted the engine cowlings.  They turned out fairly good but need some touch-up to be complete.  Photos below with commentary:

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

This shows the stainless steel front and some of the polished aluminum base, along with the white squadron marking.  Need some touch up along the edge of the white; probably do that by hand (advice accepted, though...)

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

A second cowling, again showing a need for touch up.

The photo below shows something interesting (at least it was to me...)

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

First issue was some of the Polished Aluminum on the base pulled off, as can be seen to the left of the photo.  That is bare plastic showing, so it pulled off the Polished Aluminum layer, the gloss black layer, and the grey primer layer.  I used Tamiya masking tape and it seemed to be good everywhere else.  Have to figure out how to touch that up and it may mean re-spraying the whole cowling.

Second item of interest is the spot on the Stainless Steel section of the cowling, in the center of the photo.  This spot was created after I put on the gloss black coat.  I had masked the black while I sprayed the Polished Aluminum to avoid overspray.  When I pulled off the tape, this spot in the gloss black appeared.  I touched it up with the same gloss black by brush, and went off to bed.  It appeared smoother than the rest of the gloss black when I got up this morning, but thinking it was just the undercoat anyway, I figured what the heck and proceeded to spray over it all with the Stainless Steel.  Whammo, suddenly that section of the engine cowling look exactly liked smooth metal.  You could literally see your reflection in it if you got close enough to it. 

My fears about the masking over the gloss white were unfounded; it did not pull up when I removed the tape.  The Alclad; not so much.  Perhaps I did not wait long enough for it to dry; I gave it roughly 24 hours and maybe I should have given it more.  It is also clear to me that polishing the gloss black coat is important after you apply it.

Despite all the trouble, I am overall pleased with the colors and general appearance.  I still have to touch it up to be perfect.

As always, open to hearing about good ideas and suggestions for me to improve.  Mask kit for the cockpit glass hasn't arrived yet.  Propellor tips and hubs are next on the agenda, and the gear and bomb-bay doors, and gun turrets. 

Shipwreck:  I am glad you are enjoying it; I am enjoying doing it!  I think it is very cool that everyone gets the tips at the same time, as opposed to modeling in The Olden Days which was a very solitary activity.  Much easier to learn from everyone else here, and see pictures and how-to's on YouTube. 

I decided I was being too wishy-washy and so went ahead and masked the gloss white on the engine cowlings without coating them first with Future.  I figure if it fails, I can strip it and begin again without too much lost time or effort.  Here is the masking:

I used Tamiya masking tape and re-learned a bunch of old calculus by trying to make a nice curve out of a series of short straight line segments.  I practiced a bit on applying the tape and pulling it off and it did not seem to harm the white finish at all, so I gave it a shot.

Next up is to paint the cowlings gloss black as an undercoat, then apply Polished Aluminum to part of it and Stainless Steel to the rest.  I hope to get through all that by the weekend.  I also want to paint the tips of the propellers yellow next, so more masking there.  I understand yellow is hard to cover an undercoat, so I may have to spray it several times to get it to look glossy and opaque.

More to follow!

Bob, I must say that I am enjoying this thread of you going through your build and getting some good pointers from the list members. Especially as sit here with a B-29 in the box right besides me, just waiting for me to finish painting my P-51D. BTW, I just put my P-51 props in a sealed bag after four days of drying.

If you put future over the paint a few coats an let it dry for a day, you will have a finish that will be practically scratch resistant, I always use future on my aircraft paint schemes as it's a super strong acrylic so it will protect it, I would give it an hour or so between coats and then leave it a day. Well that's what I do and it always works, I cannot say for white but I assume the colour will not actually matter.

I am concerned about masking the gloss white on the engine cowlings; wouldn't do to have it lift up with the masking tape.  I had the brilliant idea of shooting a coat of Future over the white to hold it in place, then masking it for the rest of the cowling painting. 

Does the collective wisdom of the forum have any ideas about that?  Or am I worrying needlessly and should just mask the gloss white and move along?

cheers, Bob

Today's lesson was entitled "Be Sure to Find a Place to Put the Freshly-Painted Propellor BEFORE You Have One Hand Full of Airbrush and the Other Hand Full of Propellor Covered in Wet Paint"...

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

Don't ask me how I learned this lesson...

Nice clean build!  Thanks for the posts!

7474:  thank you, it is enjoyable (so far).  Today's adventure was with the engine cowlings.  The 1st Squadron, 9th Bomb Group (where my friend was assigned) had gloss white rings around all the cowlings, and a white strip on the top of the vertical stabilizer.  So I painted the rings around the engines today:

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

These little jewels will be very interesting when completed.  The ring around the entrance was made of stainless steel; then there is the white ring, then the polished aluminum on the flaps.  There will be three different colors on each engine cowling, followed by the engine detail inside and set off by black props with silver nose cones and yellow tips. 

I also painted the steel wheel hubs today.  I ordered the B-29 masking kit from Eduard from somewhere in the Uk today, and when it arrives it has masking frets for the wheels.  I'll mask off the steel and then repaint the black tires.

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

Stay tuned, film at eleven.  They are forecasting 4-6 inches of snow up here on the mountain top tonight and tomorrow, so probably won't be going anywhere for a day or so!

cheers, Bob

I'm really liking your build

Joe:  well, that is brilliant.  I had seen an earlier post about a photo-etched set for the interior of the B-29, but since mine wasn't to be a cut-away it seemed like a lot of money for something that was hidden away.  I somehow missed seeing the mask kit.  It took me roughly 30 seconds to order one from the time I saw your post!  That will make life a LOT easier!

thanks, Bob

Looking great Bob.  Have fun with that nose, you could be there a while....or you could try these.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Eduard-1-48-EX367-Canopy-Mask-for-the-Revell-Monogram-B-29-Superfortress-/380814397539?hash=item58aa4e9063#ht_283wt_684

Joe

I am back at it again.  Primed a bunch of parts in preparation for applying the Alclad II on gear door, bomb-bay doors, and engine cowlings.  Also began to paint the propellors.  I was getting tired of just sanding seams, so had to diversify!

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

I also took a shot of the cockpit interior.  About to start masking the canopy, which promises to be a real chore.

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

Cheers, Bob

That last pic shows exactly why I say not to use alclad on the control surfaces.

Oops.  third picture in the reply above is a duplicate.  The correct picture I intended to use is this one:

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

Cheers, Bob

The texture of the fabric surfaces on the model does look a little rough compared to photos I have of the real aircraft:

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

The reference guide I am working from is the Squadron Signal book, B-29 Walkaround by Savage, which is excellent.  They had a few photos of the control surfaces as well:

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

As you say, you can see the rib detail in the fabric-covered part but it does not look so rough as the model moldings. 

I'll mull this over a little bit more.  I may use an acrylic for the fabric sections.  I live about an hour away from the Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles; perhaps I will go pay the Enola Gay another visit and see what the real thing looks like. 

thanks, Bob

The texture of the plastic has nothing to do with how flat or shiny it will be, its all in the paint used. I'm telling you this ahead before you have to paint over the alclad. Also, the texture that is on the control surfaces is not accurate at all, on the real plane it is smooth except for the rib detail.

Thanks, I've enjoyed doing the interior, even though most of it can't be seen.  I chose to use the Alclad II on the fabric surfaces because they are molded as fabric, with a "stippled" look to them.  In the real airplane they were painted aluminum in color so I thought the Alclad would be good for that.  That color (simply called "aluminium") coupled with the fabric-like molding, should look sort of flat in color and ought to be pretty close.   If it doesn't look right, I'll try something else!

Big step today; glued the fuselage halves together.  

The alclad looks nice, when I get there on mine I'll be using plain silver though. Alclad is supposed to depict metal surface's so why use that on the fabric control surfaces?

I really like your interior work by the way.

Only evidence I have comes from the B-29 walkaround book by Squadron, and my conversations with my friend *** Baker.  The squadron book does not show any bunk bed configurations, and *** was positively amused by the notion that there were bunks onboard.  That space was converted to his radar station in the birds he flew. 

I can theorize two things:  the bunks might have been part of the B-29 original design, before the radar stations were envisioned, and so that is where Revell got them, or perhaps they were a part of the Silverplate design for the birds configured to carry the atomic bombs.  I have no idea if either of those two conjectures are actually true.

But *** thought it was the funniest thing he had ever heard when I mentioned the bunk beds...

Just a note on the bunk beds. Several years ago on this forum a former B-29 maintenance man said that he never saw bunks in a B-29 like Revell depicts them. They were folded on the sides of the fuselage. Any confirmation on this?

Another update.  First, to B-17 Guy, I also left out the bunk beds and some of the rear interior, but it didn't matter much because there is very little weight contained in those parts compared to the sheer mass of plastic in the fuselage and rear wing mass (rear as in behind the wheels).  Photo below shows the two fuselage halves just about ready to be mated together.

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

I also spent some time today sanding and puttying the wing halves to get rid of the seams.  You can see one wing in the photo above.  Photo below shows the worst of the seams, on the engine nacelle sides.

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

I want to get the wings in as good a shape as I can before I try to attach them.

I also discovered that I wasn't as smart as I thought when I painted the wheel wells.  I carefully painted the dark green in the wheel wells,  but completely forgot to do the sides of the wells, which were part of the wing assembly.  As a result, I had to try to mask and touch those up after the wing halves were glued together.  At least I found it before I painted the wings!

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

Speaking of painting, I went out and got a second model of a ME-109 and used it to practice my Alclad II skills.  Below photo shows three different colors of Alclad II:  a Polished Aluminum on the left, a straight Aluminum on the upper right, and Stainless Steel on the lower right.  I thought they all came out very good.  All were placed over a base coat of Gray Primer, followed by a Gloss Black.  I know the Gloss Black isn't required for the Aluminum paint, but wanted to see how it came out.  I think I will use the Polished Aluminum for the base airplane covering, the Stainless Steel for those panels in the exhaust path (per the real airplane) and the straight Aluminum for the fabric-covered horizontal and vertical control surfaces.

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

Stay tuned, film at eleven!

I've followed this build becuse I've got the same very slightly started. As far as weighing down the nose to sit right, one thing I was thinking is to reduce weight in the tail in the first place. I'm gonna leave out the rear interior and bombay, wont be able to see it anyway so why add the the bunk beds? Its just more plastic weight. I've got fine steel shot for nose weight, I figure that and elmers glue should do the trick.

Nice work so far!

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/waynebaker/library/Fifi%20and%20friends%202013

Some pictures of Fifi.

Well, I am finally back at the workbench.  I was right about 0.90 ounces not being enough; I had to almost quadruple it before the center of gravity shifted forward.  I took Ray's advice and got some lead fishing weights which I then hammered flat and inserted into the lower equipment bay (under the radio operator's seat).  Photo below:

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

I ended up putting in five sheets hammered flat, in addition to the weights in the gun turrets and a few more that I added to the sides.  As you can see in the photo, I can no longer put the lower gun turret tub in the aircraft, so I'll just glue the turret on.  Getting the right weight was a major step because I could not glue the fuselage halves together until I was SURE I had that right. 

Now she sits level balanced on a roll of masking tape:

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

I also took a shot of the overall aircraft dry fit together again:

image by robertholcomb73, on Flickr

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I called my friend for whom I am making this and we discussed some specific markings and features of his aircraft.  The kit has two versions of the radar dome, one a simple cylinder and the other a more aerodynamic oblong shape.  I confirmed with my friend that he had the earlier, simple cylinder shape on his bird (and he should know; he was the radar operator!).  He also confirmed that the color of the radome was light grey, not natural metal.

I found a two photos of his bird, one with nose art (a simple script "Sweet Sue") and the other without.  He confirmed that the nose art was added after the June 1945 mission in which he won the DFC; in fact, it was added after the war was over.  That makes my decal problem a bit easier; no nose art. 

I also found, in the book "B-29s in Action" a photo of two B-29s on Iwo Jima, captioned as being in May 1945.  A close inspection astonished me by revealing it was my friends aircraft!  All the markings matched, being 9th Group, 1st Squadron, and bird Number 5.  So I sent the photo to my friend and he confirmed that not only was that his bird, it was taken after they landed at Iwo on the June 1945 mission over Kobe, in which they all won DFC's.  He said the caption was wrong, because his aircraft only made one stop at Iwo.  He said they ran out of engines and propellers, in his usual understatement.

I picked up a cheap model of  Messerschmidt with which to practice my Alclad II skills.  I have Aluminum, Polished Aluminum, and Stainless Steel to practice with.  I tried the Aluminum already, over a coat of Future and also a coat of gloss black, and did not care for it, so I am going to try the Polished Aluminum next and see if I like it better. 

Stay tuned, film at eleven!

OK, thanks.  I think 0.90 ounces won't be enough, so I am going to add another ounce or two to the space around the gun tub underneath the flight deck.  Hammering fishing weights flat seems like the best approach for that, thanks.  I am nervous about putting weights in the engine nacells because they do not look to me as if they attach very firmly, just by the glue bond (looks like a butt joint to me when I dry fit them) and so I am not confident they can handle any more weight inside.

cheers, Bob

Bob, try to set it on stands under the wings were the main gear attach.  You should be able to approximate how much weight will be needed to hold the nose down.  Also, adding the SAC metal landing gear will add some weight up front.

I hammered lead split shot fishing sinkers so I was able to stuff some under the flight deck.  I also fit some in between the engine faces in the cowlings and the front of the nacelles.  If you replace the BBs with fishing sinkers you will have enough weight.  IIRC, I also weighted the 500lb bombs in the forward bomb bay.

ANY weight forward of the main gear will help...

Ray

Ok, it's time for another stupid question!

 I know the model is tail heavy, so I have to put weight somewhere up front to keep it resting on its nose wheel.  Check.  So I was looking for some space in the forward fuselage that would be hidden from sight where I could epoxy in some BB's to add weight.  Found a nice space around the forward lower gun turret that would work ok.  Then I thought, why fill in  AROUND the gun tub, when I could FILL IN the gun tub?

So I filled the two forward gun tubs with BB's, the upper turret and the lower turret.  My question is, how much weight is required?  I weighed the two BB-filled tubs, and combined they weight 0.90 ounces.  Think I need more weight stuffed somewhere, before I glue the fuselage shut?

cheers, Bob

I bet that looked impressive.  The Eduard photoetched set would be perfect for that today.  The Monogram kit I am using has a nice photo on the side of the box of a interior view of the aircraft.

I am awaiting some paint and so have not cemented the fuselage together yet.  Have begun details on the engines and cowlings.  And manufactured a new tail skid to replace the one the cat stole!

More photos soon.